Thursday 25th April 2024

  • 'ArcaneDoor' Cyberspies Hacked Cisco Firewalls to Access Government Networks

    Network security appliances like firewalls are meant to keep hackers out. Instead, digital intruders are increasingly targeting them as the weak link that lets them pillage the very systems those devices are meant to protect. In the case of one hacking campaign over recent months, Cisco is now revealing that its firewalls served as beachheads for sophisticated hackers penetrating multiple government networks around the world.

    On Wednesday, Cisco warned that its so-called Adaptive Security Appliances—devices that integrate a firewall and VPN with other security features—had been targeted by state-sponsored spies who exploited two zero-day vulnerabilities in the networking giant's gear to compromise government targets globally in a hacking campaign it's calling ArcaneDoor.


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  • Can the First Amendment Save TikTok?

    On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a law that could effectively ban TikTok if the company does not divest from ByteDance, its Chinese owner, in the next 12 months. But the law, which sped through the House and Senate, could face a significant uphill battle in US courts for potentially violating the First Amendment rights of both the company and its users.

    In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said “this unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail.”


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  • How NASA Repaired Voyager 1 From 15 Billion Miles Away

    Engineers have partially restored a 1970s-era computer on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft after five months of long-distance troubleshooting, building confidence that humanity's first interstellar probe can eventually resume normal operations.

    Several dozen scientists and engineers gathered Saturday in a conference room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or connected virtually, to wait for a new signal from Voyager 1. The ground team sent a command up to Voyager 1 on Thursday to recode part of the memory of the spacecraft's Flight Data Subsystem (FDS), one of the probe's three computers.


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  • 'Metaphor: ReFantazio' Steals the Best Ideas From 'Persona 5'

    When it came time to make Metaphor: ReFantazio, developer Atlus had a guiding principle: make a video game that was a culmination of all the beloved RPGs the company had made before it. “We decided to challenge the fantasy genre,” director Katsura Hashino said this week during an online demo of the game. Atlus has been making games for some 35 years, and it wanted to pull together an all-star team to commemorate the anniversary.

    Hashino has been instrumental throughout the Persona series; following Persona 5’s release, he moved away from P-Studio—the team working on Persona games—to start Studio Zero, another internal Atlus group. For Metaphor, Studio Zero brought in Persona character artist Shigenori Soejima and longtime composer Shoji Meguro. They also brought in guest developers Koda Kazuma, concept artist for NieR:Automata, and Ikuto Yamashita, one of the artists behind the beloved anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.


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  • Somehow This $10,000 Flame-Thrower Robot Dog Is Completely Legal in 48 States

    If you've been wondering when you’ll be able to order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer, that day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame bills as “the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog” is now available for purchase. The price? $9,420.

    Thermonator is a quadruped robot with an ARC flamethrower mounted to its back, fueled by gasoline or napalm. It features a one-hour battery, a 30-foot flame-throwing range, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote control through a smartphone.


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  • Why We Need Intergenerational Friendships at Work

    Managers today are leading up to five generations at the same time. And that brings with it a new challenge: Poorly managed generational differences between employees can be damaging, resulting in age bias, negative impact on job attitudes, dysfunctional team dynamics, and even lower levels of overall job performance. Well-managed generational diversity has the potential to bring substantial benefits, ranging from knowledge transfer and mentoring to innovation and reduced turnover. It creates opportunities to develop something even more invaluable: intergenerational workplace friendships. Here’s how managers can help nurture these relationships:

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  • Charlotte Tansill & Adam Kornblum on CeraVe's Super Bowl Ad Campaign

    In this episode, Wharton experts speak with Charlotte Tansill of Ogilvy and Adam Kornblum of L'Oréal.

    Wharton’s Barbara Kahn and Annie Wilson speak with Charlotte Tansill, North America president of Ogilvy PR, Social & Influence, and Adam Kornblum, global chief creative at L’Oréal, about the success of CeraVe’s Super Bowl ad, working with Michael Cera, the beauty brand landscape, and more.

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  • What is an AI anyway?

    When it comes to artificial intelligence, what are we actually creating? Even those closest to its development are struggling to describe exactly where things are headed, says Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, one of the primary architects of the AI models many of us use today. He offers an honest and compelling new vision for the future of AI, proposing an unignorable metaphor — a new digital species — to focus attention on this extraordinary moment. (Followed by a Q&A with head of TED Chris Anderson)Continued here

  • The art of persuasive storytelling

    "Storytelling is one of the most powerful marketing and leadership tools there is," says communications expert Kelly D. Parker. She explains how stories make proposals of all kinds more memorable — and shows how you can craft a compelling narrative to connect, persuade and drive meaningful action.Continued here

  • The weird and wonderful art of Niceaunties

    Welcome to the "Auntieverse" — a surreal tribute to "auntie culture" by artist Niceaunties, inspired by the spirit of the women who care for each other and their families. From sushi-bedecked cars with legs to hot tub baths full of ramen, Niceaunties shares a visual feast that fuses AI and imagination and celebrates the eccentric, vibrant world of aunties with reverence and awe.Continued here

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